Reporting online on February 27, 2013 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Ben Schöttker and his colleagues at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg describe the results of their study of 9,949 subjects between the ages of 50 to 74 upon enrollment in ESTHER. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels were measured upon enrollment and at a five year follow-up visit. The subjects were followed for a median of 9.5 years, during which 1,083 deaths occurred.

Subjects whose serum vitamin D levels were between 12-20 ng/mL (30 to 50 nmol/L), which was classified as insufficient, had a 17 percent higher risk of dying from any cause in comparison with those whose levels were categorized as sufficient at greater than 20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L). For those with deficient levels of less than 12 ng/mL (30 nmol/L), the risk of dying increased to 71 percent higher than that experienced by subjects with sufficient levels. In comparison with sufficient levels, being deficient in vitamin D was associated with a 42 percent greater risk of dying of cancer, a 39 percent greater risk of dying of cardiovascular disease and a 250% greater risk of dying of respiratory disease.

"Because of the rapid progress in laboratory analytics of 25(OH)D concentrations since 2008, risk classification needs to be verified in new studies with 25(OH)D immunoassays standardized to the current gold-standard method of liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)," the authors write. "To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze the association
of LC-MS/MS–standardized 25(OH)D concentrations with mortality endpoints to evaluate cutoffs for vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency proposed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM)."

"Our results support the importance of additional research on the potential of lowering mortality by ensuring an adequate vitamin D supply," they conclude.

An article published online on January 14, 2013 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics suggests that consuming vitamin D supplements or milk that is fortified with vitamin D is more important than sun exposure or skin pigmentation when it comes to raising children's levels of the vitamin.

Jonathon Maguire, MD of St Michael's Hospital in Toronto and his colleagues evaluated serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in 1,898 children between the ages of one and five years who participated in the TARGet Kids! program, which involved a collaboration between University of Toronto child health outcomes researchers and physicians from the Department of Pediatrics and the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Parents provided data on the children's ingestion of vitamin D-containing supplements, cow's milk intake and other information.

Fifty-seven percent of the children used supplements that contained vitamin D. While skin pigmentation and season (which influences the amount of sun exposure one receives) were associated with vitamin D status, supplementation and milk drinking were associated with stronger effects. Supplementing with vitamin D was found to increase 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels by 3.4 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) in comparison with not supplementing.

"Early childhood is a critical stage in human development, so achieving and maintaining optimal vitamin D levels in early childhood may be important to health outcomes in later childhood and adulthood," stated Dr Maguire, who is a researcher and pediatrician at St. Michael's Hospital. "When it comes to maintaining sufficient vitamin D stores in young children, the story is about dietary intake of vitamin D through vitamin D supplementation and cow's milk."

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